Beer, Beer, Beer

After a short drive from Aachen, we finally arrived at our last unique destination of the trip. We pulled up to our B&B just inside the old city, arguably our best lodging deal of the trip. It was far from fancy, but we had our own room, free parking (an incredible luxury after two months of parking pains), light breakfast in the morning, and a short walk to the main square. 

We went seeking food the first night, only to get our first taste of how bat crazy expensive Brugge is. Given we were at our last stop, money was tight. I mean tight. Had to eat at Subway tight. But this minor setback couldn't detract from the preserved medieval beauty down every stone street. I was sold. We wandered over small canals and found a tiny hole-in-the-wall bar, apparently a local joint judging by the looks we got when we walked in. This ended up being our most fortuitous decision. The owner/barkeep was cold at first, but opened up when he realized we we actually knew a little bit about beer. After an informative conversation and three extremely strong and extremely delicious beers, he handed us a book called Around Bruges in 80 Beers, which features his and many other establishments paired with the 80 best beers they offer. This became our bible. 

While food was shockingly expensive, beer was quite the opposite. We spent the next 3 days following our little map of bars and beers all over the city, occasionally stopping to refuel with street food. We saw corners of the city we probably never would have, beer tasted under windmills, befriended English beer connoisseurs and bartenders in an underground bar,  and learned that "have a few beers" is an American phrase not to be applied in Belgium on a half-full stomach. 

On our way out of town we stopped through Oostend on the northern coast, hence the beach walk photo, but unfortunately it wasn't much to talk about. Brugge was a perfect way to end our epic journey. We spent all of our three days there just enjoying their true local culture away from the crowded tourist spots and main squares. I was in awe of everything about this place, and in the end it gave every other place we'd been a run for its money. 

The Richest Man in Babylon

We had one night to kill before heading to Brugge, and no clue what to do with it, so we followed a piece of parental advice and headed back into Deutschland to the little city of Aachen. It's the country's western-most city and sits right where Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany meet. Considering it was the favored residence of Charlemagne, we figured it couldn't be half bad. We booked a chain hotel last minute and made it before dark. 

We were a little outside the old city, but I don't think anything in Aachen was out of walking reach so it was an easy stroll into town to find food for our empty bellies. We'd had a long day of driving so we stopped in a small liquor store to buy a liter bottle of Franziskaner for each of us, which the clerk happily opened at the register so we could drink them on the walk (sigh... Europe). Upon finding a build your own baked potato shop, I knew that if Michael had anything to do with it, we'd found dinner. We comfort fooded out and wandered the cobble stone streets to find an ice cream sundae like only the Germans can do. 

We woke up early thanks to a much appreciated hotel bed, got all packed up, and headed out to explore the city and Charlemagne's cathedral. We had an amazing breakfast right under the gothic building, and headed in to look around. We found the most ornate, intricate, gilded interior we'd see yet (if not an arguable tie with the abbey outside Munich). We stood staring up in awe for a long while, and then continued to wander the city until it was time to go. At first we were confused why the King of the Franks would choose such a small capital with no major body of water in sight, but little Aachen has definitely been added to our must return list. 

Philosophia

Heidelberg was the trip love of Michael's first trip to Germany a few years ago, so he couldn't wait to introduce us. After our morning spent not really visiting the fairy tale castle, we headed up north in the general direction of Frankfurt to the small University town below an ancient castle. Driving into the town it appears to be modern and fairly large, but just a few minutes later we were in the small, old stone city I expected to see. Our chosen hostel was brand new, and by far landed at the very top of our lodging recommendation list. The location was phenomenal and the owner as sweet and welcoming as you could ever ask. Our cute little upstairs room was so comfortable, and we settled in for our short two-night stay. We took a recommendation from the owner for dinner, and were so pleasantly surprised with a chicly rustic restaurant that opened right up to the city's cathedral. We had a nice walk about after our meal, and headed back to take care of the annoying necessity of laundry. 

The next morning, we set out to see as much as we could manage in our only whole day. The main goal was a trek up to Philosophenweg, or Philosophers' Way - a beautiful mountainside trail that overlooks the city and the castle on the other side of the River Neckar, a smaller branch of the Rhine. We crossed the beautiful river, and started the unexpectedly tiring ascent up the stairs and hills. The cool German rain began to fall again, but this time it was welcome (besides it forcing Mark into his ziplock and into my purse). Halfway up, we passed one of many gates that led to small private orchards on the hill and heard a man's voice calling us over. In the usual German fashion his English was perfect, and he invited us into his garden to offer us some of the hundreds of green apples his tree was bearing, explaining that he had more fruit than he and his mother knew what to do with. The rain was falling, we were surrounded by hundreds of happy bees, and this sweet man just wanted to share his apples with everyone who passed - something about it all just made me feel overwhelmingly happy, and we continued up the hill refreshed and munching on the tastiest apple I've ever had. The view from Philosophenweg was (wait for it...) beautiful, and the sun came out just long enough for me to photograph and obsess over the incredible flower gardens. We climbed to the top of an old watch tower, had our lunch on a vine covered bench, and headed back down just in time to get out of a summer storm and into a beer. Then it was off to the grocery so we could have a home cooked meal and cocktails. 

Sadly we had to leave the next day, but not before making the hike up to the castle (which we could see out the hostel's kitchen window, by the way). We put on our serious shoes and made the steep climb. First stop was the castle's absolutely enormous wine storage barrel (approximately 58,100 gallons). No longer used to store wine, but a sight nonetheless. Next we decided to check out the very random German Apothecary Museum across the courtyard. I will just say, never did I expect to be so completely enthralled by an apothecary museum - we have both since become obsessed with furnishing homes, kitchens, and bars with apothecary cabinets and painted bottles. We spent the rest of the time exploring the amazing ruins and grounds. Before long, we had to pull ourselves away to get ourselves fed for the drive ahead, and I had to drag Michael away from his discovery of German Christmas superstores. Up next was the Netherlands, and though I didn't have quite enough of Heidelberg, I was ready for some windmill action...